Dhaka: A writ petition was filed with the High Court (HC) on Sunday seeking its directive to the Home Secretary for the formation of an independent committee for probing 4,000 ‘fictitious cases’ filed against BNP leaders and activists across the country in September.

Three senior lawyers of BNP—former vice-chairman of Bangladesh Bar Council Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, former minister Advocate Nitai Roy Chowdhury and BNP’s law affairs secretary advocate Sanaullah Mia—filed the writ petition.

The Home Secretary, Inspector General of Police, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Detective Police (North Zone), Additional Deputy Commissioner of Ramna Zone Police Commissioner, Ramna and Shahbagh Police Stations Officers-in-Charge were made defendants in the write petition.

The petitioners also demanded a directive to include representatives from the United Nations Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Asian Human Rights Commission.

Besides, they sought issuance of a rule for taking action against those who were involved in filing the ‘fictitious cases’.

Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said the cases were filed to create panic among BNP leaders and activists ahead of the national election.

The hearing on the writ is likely to be held at the HC bench of Justice Hasan Arif and Justice Ahmed Sohel, he said.